Field of the Art
The disclosure relates to the field of locking systems, and more particularly to the field of common access entry point locking systems.
Discussion of the State of the Art
It is common practice in an apartment complex or other establishments with common access entry points to require an individual seeking admission to identify himself by speaking to the tenant over a communication system. These systems are often outdated and tedious to navigate.
A conventional access control system for a building or an apartment complex that has a normally-latched common entrance door typically has at least one main entrance unit (for example at a community front door or a roadway gate), for selectively signaling a plurality of hard-wired residential access control stations installed inside of a plurality of residences operated by tenants to communicate with the tenants to request and grant access. In some systems a tenant directory is installed at the common entrance for selecting the desired tenant. These systems are costly to install, not easily maintained, and typically require a specialized resource to update the directory. Since multi-housing units are run by maximizing profit, other priorities take precedence before upgrading to entry mechanism. Often, directories do not get timely updated and provide for an undesirable user experience (for example, not finding a tenant by their name since their name was never updated).
In other buildings, the apartment building intercom and door release arrangement is integrated with a regular central office telephone system so that the tenant can communicate with the visitor from the telephone in his apartment typically over a landline where the tenant may control the entrance access to the common entrance door by the generating a DTMF digit via the telephone keypad. Though a telephone-based system is a step forward, cheaper to implement, and more convenient than a hard-wired system, challenges exist when a visitor arrives in certain circumstances. For example, while the tenant is on a regular phone call or the phone itself is unavailable because it is lost or does not have sufficient battery power.
What is needed is a centrally controlled system that allows to quickly and efficiently control common access entry points such as common access doors and gates that is user friendly and leverages more modern communication methods and habits. Further, an entry system that can potentially provide a revenue stream, may further increase adoption.